this fish has no circadian rhythm (and it’s better off for it) by Chloe DeFilippis

the cicada in you sits on a rusted clothesline in the backyard a bird chased you into the sky once i had scarlet fever once i stopped eating once i tried bones for fun

did i ever like being fucked or just breaking yolks on hot pans with melted butter

do you like breakfast i can make you breakfast

would you like to taste the crumbs of me all those burnt little flakes i swear my thighs touch again and all from before have deflated

(my heart is a pack of 99 cent store balloons)

so what if i kept them so what if i liked when you were a bug hot anxious so on edge with edge

do you care if i use you to cut myself i like the blood yes i like the blood and the pain a few days later

do you think i’m fucked up i am fucked up

when clicking your tymbals remember i flicked my wings but the static so shocked fucked up like i said the bird came anyway fish are probably simpler

About the author:

Chloe DeFilippis is an Italian-Polish-American Scorpio from Bayonne, New Jersey. Her poetry and flash nonfiction have appeared in the journal Voices in Italian Americana as well as in the e-anthology Olive Grrrls: Italian North American Women & The Search For Identity. She holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from New Jersey City University. Currently, Chloe is a sales assistant at a publishing company in New York City. You can follow her (and her partner’s) dog on Instagram @brindlebear_